Grimoire Blastia
Rated: T for swearing, violence, ETC.
BB Pairings: Ragna/Noel
ToV Pairings: Has been decided. Yuri/Rita and Estelle/Flynn
Disclaimer: Not mine. Neither of the series. The story idea was developed between myself and someone else on deviant art.
Warning: Ragna is really a grumpy person. Combine that with the ability to cuss…and you get a grand old mess.
AN: Starting ToV Plot. Please, enjoy XD
Chapter 01
Mordio and Lowell
No one can stand before the agent of justice, Tokunaga!
I don't know about 'Justice'.
I think 'evil' is more like it
~Anise Tatlin, Luke Fon Fabre, & Guy Cecil, Tales of the Abyss
The house of Rita Mordio was relatively clean, mostly due to the futile efforts of one of the members of the household's attempts to keep it as such. Dust could still be seen floating around and sitting on some of the high tower of books and papers. Rita Mordio herself was curled up and snoring happily on the bed next to one such set of towers.
She snorted, swallowed a large amount of dust, and began to cough. Startled, she jerked up and rubbed at her eyes. "What's goin` on…" The brunette mage grumbled, glancing around. She blinked in surprise when she noted that her two house mates were not currently inside.
Deciding to get up, Rita sneaked past the towers of books to the main hallway. "Ragna?" She called out. "Noel? Don't tell me you're not here!" There was no answer, so she assumed that they weren't.
Pausing at the note board, she rolled her eyes lightly at the sight of their notice. It said simply that they were currently not in the house and were picking up some things in the marketplace of Aspio. The note also mentioned that there was a letter of request for her in the mail and that she should probably check it out.
The brunette, actually taking their advice for once, snatched the letter up and read through it. She frowned deeply at the mention of a damaged blastia. Apparently, there was a water blastia going crazy in Zaphias that needed attention. She had been requested by the locals to take care of it.
Sighing, she nodded to herself. "Might as well check out what they could have done to mess with the poor thing."
Ragna did his best to pretend he wasn't currently massaging his temples. He had a headache and the reason was the blond haired, emerald eyed woman currently bartering for goods. This was why he had told her to save her money instead of putting it towards Rita's research funds.
Finally, he had enough and got between the two. "Look, here's the damn money, just take it!" The silverette glared when the merchant opened his mouth to argue. It shut him up immediately. Snagging a hand around the bang's handle, he used his other hand to drag Noel off.
Once they had exited the marketplace, he shot Noel a slightly dirty look. "The hell were you thinking? I keep telling you we need to keep our god damned money to ourselves! How else are we going to track down Terumi and kick his ass until he tells us how to get back?!" She looked down, a guilty look crossing her face. Ragna stifled a groan. He absolutely hated it when Noel cried. "H-hey, don't cry, dammit. Look, let's just head back to the house and wake the brat up. She's probably still asleep, knowing her…."
Thankfully, for the man, Noel wiped away her tears. "O-okay. You're right. We should go and see Rita…" The duo headed down the main road that splintered off to Rita's humble house. Ragna opened the door first and called out to the mage; there was no answer.
"Don't tell me she's not here, now." The silverette frowned as Noel stepped passed him to look at their notice board.
Noel winced slightly. "She left for that job she got. I'm guessing she got up a little after we left…" Ragna groaned again, irritated by the 'brat's sudden departure.
"So basically, we're here alone. Great." The ex-criminal went to what they called his room and collapsed on his bed. "Tch, she'll probably be back in a couple of days, complaining about people who don't treat Blastia right, again." Noel stifled her giggles before sitting down at the foot of the red clad man's bed.
"We should be thankful, though." He gave her a confused look. Noel blushed. "W-well, if we hadn't met here, we'd have no idea where we were and we wouldn't have these modified clothes." She raised her arms to show off said outfit.
Her original outfit had almost completely vanished, replaced by one created in the world they currently resided in. She wore a top that was similar to Rita's own: Except it did not go past her hips, as Rita's did. It was also mainly blue with white and red accents. She wore fingerless gloves that began at her elbows. Noel had managed to salvage her black skirt from her ruined clothes and also wore a blue cape that was similar to her original. Red tassel that reached her ankles from their attached points on the back of her cape at either shoulder. Her blond hair was tired loosely at the base of her neck and dark blue stockings reached mid-thigh. Her boots that she had once worn with a NOL uniform still clad her feet.
Ragna, on the other hand, hadn't changed much. His silver hair had been cut somewhat shorter, due to Noel's insistence on it. His red jacket had been expertly patched up and now had a dark red, almost black hood. Around his waist was a piece of red fabric that, on the back, kept his sword close to him. He had gotten a new sleeveless black under shirt and kept his original gloves. His steel toed boots still cad his feet.
He sighed. "Do I have to remind you that my clothes were hardly touched?" Noel blushed and then stuck her tongue out at the silverette, which caused him to shake his head in fond annoyance.
The two sat in silence before Noel straightened, her eyes giving off a curious light. Ragna eyed her warily.
"I've never asked, but I always wondered why you were just called 'Ragna'. I mean, you have to have a last name besides 'Blood-edge', right?" Noel tipped her head to the side. The silverette looked away but said nothing. She winced. Had she asked something that she shouldn't have?
Unfortunately, this was true.
Because of this one question, Ragna avoided her for nearly two days before she managed to corner him. "Look, I'm sorry for asking a question you obviously don't want to answer. I was just curious, okay? So please stop ignoring me." She gave him a rather over the top sad look.
Had it been anyone other than Noel (or Tao, but who's counting?), Ragna would have blown the off. Instead, he did something that startled the younger blond. "Technically, my last name would be 'Mercury'."
Noel blinked, surprised. 'Mercury'… "What do you mean by 'technically'?"
"It was my foster mother's last name." He explained, not looking at her. "She…died when I was a kid. I never knew my birth parents." Silently he stuffed his hands in his pockets with a deep frown, still not looking at her.
The blond furrowed her brow. "But that would mean…" Understanding lit her face up. "Major Kisaragi was adopted into the Kisaragi family when he was…12? But then…" Noel tried to peer up into Ragna's face. "….I think I get it. But I won't bother you about it anymore, okay?"
Ragna grumbled under his breath before slowly walking away.
Noel smiled weakly. Well, at least he wasn't ignoring her anymore.
Rita rolled her shoulder as she stepped into Aspio. That poor blastia…She closed her eyes as the guards around her shooed her into the city. Sidling past the older mages, Rita scowled. Why couldn't people just be gentle with the blastia in the first place? If they did, there wouldn't be as many problems for the mages to fix.
She stopped outside her house, eyeing it warily. Something seemed off…
Opening the door, she peeked in before groaning. The towers of books and papers that had been scattered throughout the home were now sitting against the walls of the hall. Frowning, she stepped through the threshold and into the house. Almost instantly, Noel walked out into the hall. "Hello, Rita. How was your job?"
The mage grumbled. "Bad. They were not treating that blastia very well. Poor thing…"
Noel gave a disapproving hum as Ragna slid into the hall, looking somewhat harried. Rita shot him a confused look before refocusing on Noel. "So what did you two do while I was away?"
"I just did some cleaning up and shopping every now and then. Otherwise, nothing. Ragna just did training and some reading…." Noel shot the silverette a scolding look. He rolled his eyes in return, seemingly annoyed.
Rita shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, I suppose."
Almost a week later some rather odd activity was noted by the silver haired swordsman. Surprised and somewhat suspicious, he snagged Noel and headed down towards the city entrance. When they got there, it was to see a group of three be rejected from entering. Apparently, they didn't have the necessary papers to enter.
"Almost sounds like one of Hierarchical Cities…" Noel murmured from next to him. Ragna grumbled an agreement before leading her away to the marketplace. They did have groceries to pick up, or else they'd probably starve.
Oddly, the Marketplace seemed more active than usual. Ragna frowned but quickly decided that it would be pointless. The duo walked passed many a market stall when they were stopped. Stopped by a trio of people.
The one who stopped them was a long haired man wearing mostly blacks, shades of dark purple, and gold lining. A young man, maybe in his early teens, stood next to him wearing an outfit of green, red, and white with his hair spiked up and out of his face. A young woman with chin length pink hair and a mainly white dress stood between the two, clasping her hands to her chest.
Ragna felt a strange sense of paranoia at the sight of the pink haired girl. He chalked it up to Kokonoe's attitude regarding him (That mad scientist…).
"Do you know where Mordio is?" The long haired man repeated.
Noel blinked but rushed to answer. "Mordio? She lives down the road from here. Why?"
The man hummed slightly while the pink haired girl answered. "Well, we need to ask him something is all." The boy snorted softly and Ragna gave them a wary look. What were they planning? Noel on the other hand took them by their word.
It was only after they left and the man had mumbled 'Probably meant 'he' when they said 'she'…' that Ragna noticed that the girl had said 'him' instead of 'her.'
Twenty minutes later found the duo headed down the road to their shared home. They had only just entered when they noticed that Rita had some company. Assuming it was the group from earlier, Ragna warily lead the way in.
Rita shot them a scolding look. "Jeez, you two just had to lead these guys here."
"What's wrong?" Noel frowned as she surveyed the four.
The brunette messaged her temples. "They're accusing me of stealing the blastia from my last repair job." Ragna scowled. Why had he known it was going to be a bad idea? "However!" She continued after noticing Ragna's scowl. "I've offered to prove I'm not the thief by going with them to find the true burglar."
Noel clasped her hands behind her back. "You're not going to leave without us, are you?"
"Why? Do you want to come?" Rita raised an eyebrow, surprised.
Ragna crossed his arms. "Do you really think we're going to let you leave with a group of people we don't even know?" Rita blinked at the protective stance he had taken. Why was he…?
"We should all calm down." Noel tutted. "Instead of arguing, we should just group up and go find this thief that is framing Rita!"
"I-I agree!" The pink haired girl cried. "I can tell, Rita isn't a bad person."
The man sighed from next to the pinkette before nodding. "Alright, fine. You three can come with us to track down that guy…" Under her breath Rita muttered 'It should have been obvious I wasn't the thief….I'm a girl, not a man.' Ragna stifled his smirk.
The pinkette waved a hand to get their attention. "W-we should do introductions! I'm Estellise Sido Heurassein, but you may call me Estelle!" She poked the man's arm. "Come on, introduce yourself!"
He sighed. "Yuri Lowell." Yuri's eyes flicked over to the young boy who had, up till now, been silent.
"U-um, I'm Karol Capel, a member…Former member of the Hunting Blades guild."
Noel gave them a sunny smile. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Noel Vermillion, and this guy—" She touched Ragna's arm. "-is Ragna!" The silverette grunted at them. Estelle, for some reason or another, shot the red clad man a nervous look. "Don't worry, he's nicer than first glance." She assured them. While Karol looked reassured, Estelle's face still held that nervous expression.
"We've got another person with us." Yuri said conversationally. "He's not here right now, but you'll get to meet him on the way out. How long will you—"
"Wait one second!" Noel declared. Ragna scooted away, recognizing the determined look on her face. "It's getting late and I insist that we stay here for the night!" Yuri opened his mouth to argue but Noel's eyes flashed menacingly. "We. Are staying. Here!" To everyone, even the man in question's, surprise, Yuri moved back
Rita sniggered. "Never argue with Noel."
"Oi, Brat, don't make me kick you out of bed." Ragna grumbled as he jabbed the mage in the cheek. The brunette grumbled, waved away his hand, and was promptly tossed out of the bed. Rita looked up and glared fiercely at him until he left the room to allow her to dress.
When he left, he moved on to the kitchen where he saw Noel attempting to start letting out a scream of horror, the silverette moved forward, knocked herhand saway from the food and said quickly, "Don't cook, I've got it."
She huffed. "You're always cooking though!"
Ragna sighed. "I like cooking, Noel. Now let me handle it. Go and wake up our visitors." She perked up at the mention of their three visitors before leaving the room to do so. The man let out a breath of relief.
By the time the others returned, breakfast was done and served. The group seemed to adore his cooking and the silver haired man looked away, his cheeks taking an ever light shade of pink. Noel hid her smile. Ragna really did like it when people praised his cooking, huh?
After breakfast was done and cleaned up, Yuri nodded once. "It's time to go, our fourth member is probably waiting for us." Ragna grunted his agreement and the other two from the household nodded. Estelle clapped her hands, though she kept away from Ragna, and lead the way out.
It didn't take long for them to leave the city, if only because they were now allowed to leave through the main entrance. Apparently, the trio had snuck in through a secret passage. Rita seemed to know exactly what they were talking about so Ragna and Noel didn't question it.
When they found their previous camping spot, Rita stopped, staring in confusion at the other three's fourth member. Noel squealed and leapt over to the member. Ragna snorted and shook his head in amusement. Why wasn't he surprised?
Their fourth member barked in excitement and happily accepted Noel's pets once the member saw Yuri's look of approval. "This is Repede." Yuri smirked. "He's our fourth member."
CURRENT PARTY
Ragna
TITLE: Blood-Edge
-A Famous Criminal who has accidently ended up in another world. How terrible.
Level 23
Noel Vermillion
TITLE: Vargant Gunner
-A NOL Traitor, she now relies on the one she had originally been chasing.
Level 21
Rita Mordio
TITLE: Genius Researcher
-A brilliant Mage of Aspio, she doesn't take NO for an answer.
Level 20
Yuri Lowell
TITLE: Downtown Boy
-Jobless? Naw, he's just taking care of the Lower Quarter.
Level 21
Estelle
TITLE: Castle Healer
-A Noblewoman who lives in the castle…and can heal?!
Level 20
Karol Capel
TITLE: Young Hunter
-A member of the Hunting Blades. Sssh, he's hunting rabbits!
Level 19
Repede
TITLE: Man's Best friend
-Or more specifically, Yuri's best friend.
Level 21
IMPERIAL KNIGHT PROFILING
Yuri Lowell
A former knight, he currently lives in Zaphias and makes life a living hell for the knights stationed there. Is currently wanted for the supposed kidnapping of LADY ESTELLISE.
Estellise 'Estelle' Sidos Heurassein
Princess of the Empire, she has escaped the castle by following the 'Vagrant', YURI LOWELL. Trained in the art of the sword and healing magic.
GUILD FILES
Karol Capel
A former member of the Hunting Blades, he uses a hammer to great effect. He has been in many guilds and is often ridiculed for this.